NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has weighed in on the recently
released Wikileaks #Vault7 documents, calling the release “genuinely a
big deal” and stating that the documents look authentic.

Still working through the publication, but what @Wikileaks has here is genuinely a big deal. Looks authentic.

Snowden
also noted that encryption apps like Signal that he has famously
recommended people use to thwart the mass surveillance programs of the
global surveillance state weren’t themselves what was hacked. It was the
operating systems IOS and Android themselves, validating a long-time
assertion of Snowden’s that encryption apps prevent mass surveillance
but not targeted surveillance.

He tweeted “PSA: This Incorrectly
Implies CIA hacked these apps/encryption. But the docs show iOS/Android
are what got hacked – a much bigger problem,” referring to a tweet by
Wikileaks that said the CIA can effectively bypass Signal, Telegram, and
WhatsApp.

Snowden was also employed by the CIA briefly as a contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton.